“They haven’t started negotiating, so let’s peel it back a little bit,” Cole said. “I will say that Robert Kraft is laying the foundation and the work for trying to convince Darrelle to stay here long term. He’s doing the thing that he’s best at, which is schmoozing people and making people feel like they should buy into the Patriot Way and all those kinds of things that Kraft is excellent at. But as far as terms of getting to the point of talking about dollars and cents, they haven’t gotten that far.”

Added Cole: “It’s more like, ‘We love how you’ve done this offseason and we love how you’ve done in camp. You would look great in a Patriot uniform for the rest of your career.’ All of those little things that you put into somebody’s mind that make them think that being a Patriot long term is in the best interest of themselves, not just of the Patriots as a team.

“That’s probably why Robert Kraft is the best businessman in the league. He’s really good at convincing people to do things his way and making them understand, at least from his viewpoint, that you’re actually good for them, too.”

If Revis and the Patriots can strike a long-term deal, he’s likely to make a lot of money. Fellow cornerbacks Patrick Peterson (four years, $70 million) and Richard Sherman (four years, $56 million) each got new contracts this offseason. With Revis in that upper echelon on defensive backs — some would argue he’s still the best in the NFL — Cole said he’s likely to make more guaranteed money than either player.

“He’s going to want more than those guys,” Cole said. “The guaranteed money is going to be a hell of a lot more than Peterson or Sherman. … The real guarantee on the Sherman deal is probably [$22 million] over a two-year period of time. If Darrelle Revis hits free agency, he’s probably going to get [$40 million to $50 million] guaranteed, if he wants to go that route.

“I think the Patriots are going to have to say, ‘How high are we willing to go? Can we get past $30 million on a guarantee and keep him around for, say, three years or four years? Can we get him to say $35 million guaranteed and feel confident that he’s going to get through four years of that deal?’

“There’s going to be some balancing, and Darrelle is going to have to sit there and say, ‘Look, I’ve already cashed a lot of checks in my career. I did really well. … Do I want to make the legacy move and stay three or four years, or do I want to play the cash-out game where I max out and get $50 million?’ ”

If the Patriots and Revis can’t come to a long-term deal by the end of the season, the cornerback would still be under contract for next season. However, the Pats would have to pay Revis $20 million with a $25 million cap hit.

“You can’t keep him, regardless of the second year of the deal, on $25 million,” Cole said. “Maybe they could in some weird reality, but I can’t imagine keeping any player on a $25 million cap charge. They are going to have to work out a long-term deal or he’s going to get cut. I don’t think there’s any in between, so this really is just a placeholder at this point in time.